Jack Smith, RN, a registered nurse at Temple University Hospital-Main Campus, recently received a DAISY Award for his ability to identify the symptoms of a stroke and provide immediate treatment, as well as for his continued care and support of all patients.
Smith has been a Temple Health nurse for nearly two years, working in the medical/surgical trauma unit.
Prior to his career in nursing, Smith honed his ability to recognize critical situations quickly and accurately while working as an emergency medical technician (EMT) for 15 years. Those experiences were critically important while Smith was treating patients at TUH-Main Campus on a February weekend.
Smith was alerted to a patient displaying altered mental status and dysarthria, or a motor speech disorder. Smith “promptly called a stroke alert,” said Alaina Hunt, a fourth-year student at Temple University’s Lewis Katz School of Medicine who nominated Smith for the DAISY Award. “Throughout the event, he remained calm, communicated every detail clearly to the stroke team, and ensured the patient was rapidly diagnosed and taken to neurosurgery.”
“Afterward, Jack found me to check in and offered words of praise, which meant a great deal to me,” Hunt added. “I felt a strong sense of camaraderie and deep appreciation for Jack’s clinical skill and professionalism.”
Smith prioritizes patient care and communication with hospital staff, patients, and their families, Hunt wrote in her nomination letter, adding that Smith strives “to make each patient’s hospital stay as supportive as possible.”
About the DAISY Award
Hospitals and health systems have been recognizing exceptional nurses for compassionate and skilled care by conferring DAISY Awards for more than a quarter-century. Created in 1999, the DAISY Award honors the memory of J. Patrick Burnes, who died from an autoimmune disease. Moved by the clinical skills, caring, and compassion of the nurses who cared for Patrick, the Burnes family created the DAISY Award international award to say thank you to nurses everywhere. DAISY stands for diseases attacking the immune system, the affliction that claimed Patrick’s life.
Read more about other Temple Health nurses who have recently won DAISY Awards, including Maryellen Bower, Patricia Loeber, and Brandon Everett.